AB 861, as amended, Maienschein. Mental health: community-based services.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for specified services, including various mental health services. Existing federal law, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, requires the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to, among other things, award, no later than January 1, 2016, planning grants to states for the purpose of developing proposals to participate in time-limited demonstration programs to improve mental health services provided by certified community behavioral health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
This bill would require the department to apply for that planning grant.begin delete Thisend deletebegin insert Theend insert bill would require the department to work with counties and other stakeholders in developing its proposal. The bill would also require the proposal to include plans for counties to redirect a portion of the funds currently used to match federal funds to providing increased housing opportunities for individuals with severe mental illnesses, as specified.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
end insertVote: begin deletemajority end deletebegin insert2⁄3end insert.
Appropriation: no.
Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares the following:
2(a) In 2014 Congress enacted the Protecting Access to Medicare
3Act of 2014.
4(b) Under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, eight states
5will be selected to have their federal share of costs increased to 90
6percent for two years for outpatient behavioral health care for
7individuals with severe mental illnesses or serious emotional
8disturbances.
9(c) If successful, this federal opportunity would enable
10California to serve the tens of thousands of individuals with those
11conditions
that it now lacks the funding to serve.
12(d) A major challenge in serving that population is that many
13are homeless and in need of housing assistance. Federal funding
14cannot pay for that housing assistance.
15(e) This federal funding would free up nearly $2 billion in
16county funds now being used to match federal funds. The money
17that is currently being used to match federal funds will now be
18available to be used to meet the housing needs of those individuals
19who are not currently receiving the behavioral health care that they
20need.
Section 14021.2 is added to the Welfare and
22Institutions Code, to read:
(a) The department shall apply to the federal
24Secretary of Health and Human Services for the planning grant
25awarded pursuant to Section 223 of the federal Protecting Access
26to Medicare Act of 2014 for the purpose of developing proposals
27to participate in time-limited demonstration programs to improve
28mental health services furnished by certified community behavioral
P3 1health clinics to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The department shall also
2submit an application for the subsequent competitive grant
3competition to be selected as a participating state in the
4demonstration program.
5(b) In planning to develop its proposal for the competitive grant,
6the department shall work
with counties and other stakeholders to
7identify the unmet need for the covered services and to estimate
8the number of individuals who will need housing assistance.
9(c) The competitive grant proposal shall include plans for
10counties to redirect a portion of the funds that are currently used
11to match federal funds but will not be needed for that purpose
12during the grant period to provide increased housing opportunities
13for individuals with severe mental illnesses.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
15immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
16the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
17immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
18The federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 requires
19the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to award
20planning grants no later than January 1, 2016. In order to require
21the State Department of Health Care Services to apply for a
22planning grant before the federal Secretary of Health and Human
23
Services awards the planning grants to states, it is necessary that
24this bill go into immediate effect.
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